Tag: mission

I was able to be home today worshipping at Salem Lutheran. That means that I was also able to help out a bit for worship on piano. Our organist had the idea to play and sing “God Bless America” as the postlude today acknowledging Independence Day in the United States on Tuesday. She invited me

I was invited to lead worship and preach today at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Tekamah, Nebraska by Pastor Tyler Gubsch. Thank you Pastor Tyler for the invitation, and to the whole congregation for the warm welcome. I shared some words of gratitude about mission share and greetings within the announcements earlier in worship, and therefore,

On Sunday April 2, 2017, I was invited to visit, preach, and meet with the council at First Lutheran Church in Wilber, Nebraska by Pastor Travis Panning. I had a wonderful morning with the congregation. Worship included parts of Marty Haugen’s “Now the Feast and Celebration” liturgy originally dedicated for the University Congregation at my

The following is the majority of the sermon I preached at American Lutheran Church in Filley, Nebraska on Sunday February 12, 2017. The passages appointed for the day by the revised common lectionary (Epiphany 6A) included Deuteronomy 30:15-20, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, and Matthew 5:21-37. Grace and peace to you this day, and greetings from your

I have mentioned before about how grateful I am for my family of origin. Together over the past few years, they have discerned and created a new organization called “Collaboration Ministries.” Check out the organization’s website for more on the particulars, but in the following post, I share a few things that I am particularly

Each week on Tuesdays I share some of what I have seen, read, and found thought provoking over the past week. To help make sense of all of these links, I have grouped them by the following categories: Church and Ministry Thought & Practice; Leadership Thought & Practice; Millennials; Neighbor Love; Stewardship; Vocation; and Miscellaneous. I

The following is the majority of my sermon for this past weekend at Messiah Lutheran Church. We celebrated and observed the Ascension of Our Lord, hence my sermon is based on the ending of Luke and the beginning of Acts. “You are witnesses to these things…” You are witnesses. The apostles were witnesses, and so are

As I have done in previous Lents I am sharing a daily reflection as part of my Lenten discipline. This year I am using the “Wilderness Wanderings” theme compiled by the “Lent Photo a Day” group. The word appointed for today is “Sorrow.” Sorrow is a deep thing. It is a feeling and even a state

Last Sunday many congregations across different denominations of the church participated in “Social Media Sunday 2015.” It was not a coincidence that it was also Reformation Sunday. A few years ago, some innovative leaders and thinkers in the church who recognized the opportunity, importance, and possibility of digital media for ministry formed this annual observance.

For the past month and a half I have been serving as a half-time mission developer for a local congregation in the Pacific Northwest. In this short time so far, I have learned a lot. I have been reminded of many other things I have learned before, in work, classes, and other settings, and I